Friday, March 16, 2007

Lofty Ideas -- Part IV

This past weekend my wife and I drove into downtown Los Angeles to participate in the Downtown Living 2007 Weekend. We have discussed moving to a loft in downtown LA and this was our opportunity to see what was available and get a glimpse at how it might fit in with our lifestyle. In Part I we looked at the Mosaic Apartments at Union Station and the Barker Block Lofts. In Part II we got off the event itinerary and visited the Molino Street Lofts, then back on the itinerary in Part III where we visited the Biscuit Company Lofts, a conversion of a 1925 Nabisco factory. Today we discuss the 2121 Lofts, our final stop in the Arts District.

When we had begun looking at the event brochure the 2121 Lofts were the ones that excited us the most just by the description and when we got there externally they looked just as funky and livable as described. Then we stepped inside the complex of a dozen or so building grouped together as a single complex and we were even more excited. The vibes were Bohemian and free spirit and we got even more juiced.

The first model we entered was small and cramped and nothing really special. The second was two-stories (upper a real loft) with a winding cast-iron staircase for access. This one was much better and there were some things about it I really liked, but the price was not one of them. We left the model and went in search of the "oasis of authentic loft living" the brochure promised. 2121 is 78 artist lofts spread over 28,000 square feet of landscaped courtyards. We never saw the promised "folding glass walls, operable skylights, martini grove, herb garden, sundeck, spa or private dog park." In other words, what they promised they did not show or had not yet built. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement.

The restrooms were in two other unfurnished models, each with a beautiful arched glass window on one wall that were spectacular, so long as you did not look through them. Outside of the windows was the underside of an overpass or bridge, with graffiti, dumpsters and parked cars dominating the view. One of them had a beautiful glass secondary, private entrance, but the area outside it was fenced off in chain-link and pretty unattractive.

There was a third model that was pretty nice I thought, but not nice enough to offset the sour taste already in our mouths.

Dammit did I want to love these lofts and just could not bring myself to do it. They promised a lot and delivered little. They should have had a lot more models open to showcase at least some of the niceties in design that the brochure spoke of.

By now we were running out of time as the event ended for the day at 5:00 PM and we were getting perilously close to 4:00. With a heavy heart and lots of disappointment, we left 2121 and the Arts District and headed on into the city. We would only have time for two more stops. Next time out we will cover two spectacular properties, the Little Tokyo Lofts and 1010 Wilshire in Part V.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Such a bummer about 2121. I was going to go check them out today but wanted to see what fellow Angelenos have said. I was interested in seeing the "serious Italian kitchens." Great blog - it came up when I googled 2121 loft.

-Keller said...

Don't let my negativity stop you. I really liked the feel of the area and the feel of the property, I was just disappointed in the details. 2121 still has a great vibe and might be a fit for you even if it wasn't for my wife and I. As they get their common areas together I'm sure it will be even better. Oddly, there was not one place we looked at that we felt we couldn't live in; 2121 was so disappointing because we had such high hopes for it going in.

Good luck in your search!

Anonymous said...

i went to check out 2121 this past weekend and actually was really impressed by the models they had open, One had a folding glass wall and a spiral staircase, and the kitchens really were a standout. I was really happy to see they took the effort to vent outdoors all the ranges and the islands were so hot with the wine coolers!

the sales guy took me into other units that were nothing like the models, but he said the interiors were all going to be torn out and redone like the models and showed me the new floorplans for that space. Maybe you were looking at a unit that was not finished?

If the landscaping ends up like the boards they have up, it looks really cool , lots of grassy spaces and a dog park which I don't see in other buildings that i've toured.

What I did not like was that only the townhomes got 2 parking spaces, and they said if i get a loft, I will need to rent the second space even though they have this huge parking lot.

I'm going to go back and bring my wife this weekend to check it out again.

-Keller said...

Looks like you saw a lot more models than we did.

Yeah, parking is a big deal everywhere. I don't remember which property this was at but one of them said you get one parking space but could buy another for $17,500 more. Such a deal!